Category: Movie Library

In my time, I like to think I’ve seen many movies from all across the spectrum. Some were terrible, some glorious, and some somewhere in the middle. Then there are movies like 1981’s Caveman, starring Ringo Starr. Is it good? Not particularly. However, unlike other movies, I’m still not sure whether Caveman is bad based on execution, or just a lack of material to work with from the start. Even so, there might be some fun to be had if you’re in the mood for a dopey comedy that’s fittingly primitive.

If you think about it, Planet of Dinosaurs is maybe one of the most brilliant titles for a movie ever. To a young mind like mine once was, it creates image to put any prepubescent youth into a near euphoria. Sadly, this movie was difficult to find for several years. However, now with the advent of the internet and the expansive market that it provides, obscure films like this are finally becoming easy to track down and pick up. The only question is whether or not digging Planet of Dinosaurs out was worth it.

I first saw Titan A.E. years and years ago. Our baby sitter at the time always brought over some movies to watch. We popped this bad boy in and, lo and behold, our household full of 5-10 year old boys loved it. In truth, I must have watched Titan A.E. 15-20 times since then. That made my recent viewing experience all the more interesting, since it had been at least 5 years since my last viewing. I still feel nostalgic love for it, and it has some great qualities, but the total package is a bit of a mixed back in retrospect.

I had never actually heard of Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, until I bought it in a DVD Double Pack with Krull (the movie I actually wanted to get). When I saw the pack on Amazon for under $5, I thought “wow, I can get a movie I’ve always wanted to see with something totally new!” Interestingly, I saw this one first. Sadly, I wasn’t a huge fan of it. However, I have a two viewings rule before I review anything which meant that I would have to give Spacehunter a second chance before hammering down the last nail in its coffin. The only question is, was it worth it?

Krull is one of those films that just has such a uniquely awesome concept to it. I mean, come on, aliens invading a knights of the round table esque world? There’s no way this isn’t good action cheesy fun. Then I watched it and was…not quite sure what to think. I certainly liked things about it, but the film was way more serious than I expected. However, as mentioned before, I have a policy that I must see a movie at least two times before reviewing it. At the second viewing, knowing what to expect, I enjoyed Krull much more for what it was trying it be, and not for what I wanted it to be. It’s not perfect, but has enough merit to warrant fans of 80s fantasy checking it out.

Westworld from 1973 (not to be confused with the HBO series of the same name) holds a special place in cinema history. It was the first feature film to use digital imagery of any kind. However, Westworld is more famous for being the directorial debut of writer Michael Crichton who is most famous for writing the novels Jurassic Park and The Lost World two decades later. Westworld may not be the spitting image of perfect cinema, but it is enjoyable and, for fans of Crichton’s science fiction works, definitely worth a look. Continue reading “Review of Westworld”

Duel is a really special movie. It was made for a tiny budget in an incredibly short period of time and directed by none other than, then unknown, Steven Spielberg. It’s also one of the only made for TV films to hold high acclaim. But what is it exactly that makes Duel so special? The concept? The filming and story telling? The acting? Its history? Short answer; all of the above.

Dragonslayer is an impressive film. During the 1980s, there was a bit of a renaissance of Fantasy Films. Though few of them were ever financially successful, films like The Never Ending Story, The Dark Crystal and Willow set the stage for the fantasy boom we’ve been experiencing since Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Sadly, many of these films have faded over the years into obscurity. For films like Dragonslayer, that’s a special shame.

Godzilla movies often having a hard time standing out from the rest of the series, but Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack has something special going for it. None other than the great Shusuke Kaneko, director of the fantastic 90s Gamera Trilogy, took the director’s chair for this one. The result is a fantastically entertaining and engaging entry in the series. However, much like with Gamera, there were some major changes to the Godzilla lore along the way.

Godzilla vs Hedorah is a special one. Over the long course of Godzilla’s career, there have been great movies, and terrible ones. Granted, many of the worst movies have their fans (sometimes including myself) but even they will admit that they are little more than guilty pleasures. Godzilla vs Hedorah, however, is different. Those who hate it regard it as one of the worst in the series while those who love it consider it one of the best. However, there’s one thing we can all agree on. Godzilla vs Hedorah is really really really strange.